With the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the world, the fact that some of the college football preview magazines are starting to hit newsstands kind of snuck up on us all. One of the earliest to be available is the Athlon Sports College Football Preview and its top 25 rankings that are a part of it.
Ohio State is in the top five like it is for most every preseason publication and prediction, but not as high as we’ve seen others elevate the program. In fact, Athlon has Alabama ranked higher in its assessment than what almost every other website and publication does.
So where does the popular preseason magazine have the Buckeyes heading into 2020? It’s still an extremely good ranking. Click through the next page and see where Athlon pegs the Buckeyes, and what it says about OSU this fall.
NEXT … What Athlon says about Ohio State in 2020
No. 3 – Ohio State
What Athlon says about the Buckeyes in 2020
“The Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat in Ryan Day’s first season. Behind a high-powered offense and a defense that held teams to 13.7 points a game, Ohio State came within a couple of plays from earning a trip to the national championship. Day’s team is equipped for another playoff run in 2020.”
While all of that is fine and good and sounds like a heaping of praise on the Buckeye program, it’s a little surprising that Athlon chose to put Alabama ahead of Ohio State. The Tide must usher in a new starting quarterback, and do it without some key weapons at the wide receiver position. The offense figures to take a bit of dip, though the defense should be lights out again.
I guess at this point, when you start talking about Clemson, Ohio State, and Alabama, it can be a lot like splitting hairs on an almost annual basis. We’ll have to just see how it all plays out. It seems to always be which teams can best replace the holes left by NFL departures and execute when it really matters.
So what does the complete top 25 look like according to Athlon? Take a peek and see where everyone else is on the next page.
Next … The complete top ten in Athon’s preseason top 25
Athlon’s complete preseason top 25
1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Penn State
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. LSU
9. Notre Dame
10. Oregon
11. Texas A&M
12. Wisconsin
13. Auburn
14. Oklahoma State
15. Michigan
16. Texas
17. Iowa State
18. North Carolina
19. USC
20. Minnesota
21. Cincinnati
22. UCF
23. Boise State
24. Virginia Tech
25. Iowa
What do you think of this list? Is Ohio State too high, too low, or just about right? What else seems out of whack? Feel free to get in on the debate by going to our social media pages below.
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